The threshold drops from 10 to 5: what it means for employers and when WorkinRomania reopens

Status as of 27.10.2026: On WorkinRomania.gov.ro, employer registration, employer authorisation and the filing of the single application for D/AM2 visas remain deactivated. On 26.10.2026 the Ministry of Labour opened a public consultation on changes to the methodology of the Shortage Occupations List; comments are accepted until 30.10.2026. WantJOB submitted its proposals on 27.10.2026.

The Ministry of Labour proposes to lower, from 10 to 5, the thresholds that bring an occupation onto the Shortage Occupations List, and to answer employers' proposals to add occupations within 10 days instead of 30. It is the ministry's first concrete move since the WorkinRomania platform was blocked on 15 September, and it goes in the direction employers asked for: more eligible occupations and a faster procedure. WantJOB answered the public consultation with seven proposals for improvement. This article explains what changes, what we proposed and when we expect the platform's workflows to resume.

In short

What the Ministry of Labour proposes

The draft amends Order no. 987/2026 of the Ministry of Labour, the methodology used to draw up and update the Shortage Occupations List. Three changes matter for employers:

• Thresholds cut in half. An occupation enters the list if, on 31.12.2025, it had at least 5 full-time employment contracts with foreign workers active in REGES-ONLINE, and if at least 5 work permits were issued for it in 2025. Until now both thresholds were 10. The same threshold of 5 contracts also applies to the half-yearly update of the list.
• An answer in 10 days. Employers' proposals, submitted through the WorkinRomania platform, are analysed within 10 calendar days of registration, in consultation with ANOFM. The institutions (ANOFM, the Labour Inspectorate, IGI) send their data within 3 working days. The result is communicated to the employer in a reasoned note.
• Small companies are no longer at a disadvantage. The text states explicitly that a small number of requested jobs is not, in itself, a reason for rejection. The analysis note takes into account the effects on micro and small enterprises.

The ministry justifies the change with the INCSMPS analysis of 20.07.2026: at the threshold of 5, the list covers 96.93% of the declared job vacancies.

Why it matters for employers

The Shortage Occupations List decides for which jobs workers from outside the EU can be recruited. Order no. 1073/2026, with 289 occupations, was drawn up at the threshold of 10. Occupations with 5 to 9 contracts, common in specialised activities and in small companies, were left out.

Two things to keep in mind:

1. The current list is not recalculated by itself. The ministry's explanatory report states that the amendment does not retroactively redo the list. New occupations enter either through a new ministerial order or on the basis of an employer's proposal filed on the platform.
2. The employer's proposal becomes a real tool. With an answer in 10 days and the rule for small companies, a missing occupation can be brought onto the list without waiting for the half-yearly update.

What WantJOB proposed

We appreciate that the ministry listened to employers. The lower thresholds and the short deadline are exactly the adjustments requested by companies that cannot find staff in the country. We answered the invitation to the public consultation and, on 27.10.2026 (letter no. 328), submitted seven proposals, with ready-to-use article wording. In short:

• The same deadline for all proposals filed on the platform. The draft shortens the deadline only for the "whenever necessary" update; proposals for the half-yearly update stay at 30 days. An employer files a single proposal, so there should be a single deadline: 10 days.
• Wording that could block the fast procedure. The methodology allows the fast update only starting from "the last half-yearly updated List", and no such list exists yet. We proposed replacing it with "the List in force".
• Rules for those who have already filed. The draft leaves proposals filed before entry into force under the old 30-day deadline. We asked that the 10-day deadline run for them from the order's entry into force.
• What happens when the deadline is missed or when institutions' data is missing. The employer should be informed before the deadline expires, and an institution's failure to answer should not force the employer to file the proposal again.
• A standard form and registration confirmation on the platform, so that proposals are complete from the moment of filing, plus clear steps after the favourable note, up to publication of the order in the Official Gazette.

When WorkinRomania reopens: the estimated timeline

The platform is blocked because Order no. 1073/2026 is suspended by the Bucharest Court of Appeal until the case on the merits is decided, with the first hearing on 02.12.2026 (see The PIFM cases and the WorkinRomania unblocking). The suspension concerns strictly that order. A new order approving the list is not covered by the suspension (it can be challenged separately), and after its publication the ministry can request the reactivation of the workflows.

Amending the methodology is the first step on this road. The next steps:

1. 30.10.2026: the public consultation ends.
2. Adoption and publication of the amending order on the methodology.
3. A new order with the list, drawn up at the threshold of 5, in a 5-day consultation with the social partners and then published in the Official Gazette.
4. Reactivation of the WorkinRomania workflows, at the request of the Ministry of Labour to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which technically administers the platform.

Last summer's precedent shows the pace: the methodology's report was drawn up on 20.07.2026, the order was published on 23.07.2026, and the list appeared in the Official Gazette on 06.08.2026, 17 days after the report. At the same pace, starting from the report of 26.10.2026, the new list would appear around 12.11.2026. WantJOB's estimate: WorkinRomania resumes its workflows in about two weeks, well before the court date of 02.12.2026.

What to do in the meantime

Employers

• Make a list of the occupations you cannot find in Order no. 1073/2026, with the correct COR codes. At the threshold of 5, many of them qualify.
• Gather the evidence of your recruitment efforts: PULS job postings, the periods in which the jobs stayed unfilled, the answers from AJOFM. The analysis of the proposal is based on them.
• Registration or authorisation files started on the platform remain saved. Complete the documents now so they are ready at reactivation.
• The D/AM1 route (Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia and highly qualified workers) does not depend on the list and remains open to employers already registered.

Foreign workers

• If your contract has ended, the 90 days for finding a new employer keep running. Keep the termination decision and your residence documents at hand, so the new employer can file the application right after reactivation.
• Change-of-employer applications that cannot be filed now will be analysed individually by IGI after filing resumes, taking the blockage into account.

WantJOB prepares for its clients the occupation proposal and the supporting documentation, so they can be filed on the first day after the platform reopens. Write to us at office@wantjob.eu.

Sources

• Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity: draft Order amending and supplementing Order no. 987/2026 and Approval Report no. 2619/DGPPMOFP/26.10.2026, published in the Decisional Transparency section on 26.10.2026
• Order no. 987/2026 of the Ministry of Labour, Official Gazette, Part I, no. 603 of 23 July 2026
• Order no. 1073/2026 of the Ministry of Labour, Official Gazette, Part I, no. 649 of 6 August 2026
• Bucharest Court of Appeal, cases 5633/2/2026 and 5258/2/2026
• WANTJOB S.R.L., Observations and proposals no. 328/27.10.2026, sent to dezbateri@mmuncii.gov.ro